FM Radio Switchover

FM Radio Switchover

The long awaited TV digital switchover went extremely smoothly in our region, however recent news has reveled that the Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey, has refused to commit to a digital switchover date for radio.  

It is thought a decision regarding the radio switchover will not be announced until 2013, this announcement will inform the public if the radio switchover will happen in 2015 or will be delayed, the government is reluctant to give a date for the switchover until they can be 100% certain of the official date.

Much like during the TV switchover where Tv switched from terrestrial to digital, the digital radio switchover will see all major radio stations move  away from FM to DAB only.  However good news for some; it has been reveled that the FM signal will NOT be switched off but instead will be used by smaller stations and community radio groups.

It is thought that the major delay of the radio switchover is because of the dependency on radio in vehicles, including ones which are yet to be built.  The government has commented that it will not switchover the radio in the UK until 50% of all listening occurs digitally. However it doesn’t seem that we will need to worry too much at this moment in time, because many experts of the radio industry believe that it could take up to 20years for a full radio switchover to happen.

For more information about digital radio please call us on 07794786718